Andalusia Andalusia Andalusia were arrested, imprisoned, interrogated or burned in both Castile and Aragon. According to John Edwards, the author of
Ferdinand and Isabella: Profiles in Power, the Kings felt that it was "necessary to remove a genuinely mortal danger from Spanish society – that the Jews masquerading as Catholic Christians are destroying the church within." Also policy initiatives were developed after two incidents that included Jews. The first was an incident that occurred in 1490 that claims that a converso named Benito Garcia was found to have stolen the Host or the unleavened bread of the Mass. It was believed that those who stole the wafers from the churches were inspired by the devil. Investigators, or rather the judicial police, had claimed that there was a conspiracy between 10 conversos and Jews not only to steal the Eucharist but also capture a young boy from La Guardia, near Toledo. They concluded that the Jews had kidnapped the young boy and forced him to suffer the same crucifixion that Jesus had suffered. All conspirators were found guilty in 1491 though no child's body was ever found.
Such incidents only furthered the idea of the Inquisition upon the Spanish people. In 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella ordered segregation of communities to create closed quarters which would eventually become "ghettos". This segregation, common at the time, also furthered economic issues upon the Jews and others by increasing taxes and social restrictions. Finally, in 1492, with the
Alhambra DecreeThe Alhambra Decree was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ordering the expulsion of Jews from the Kingdom of Spain and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.The edict was formally revoked on December 16, 1968.- Background :Beginning...
Jews in Spain were given four months by the monarchs to either convert completely to Catholicism or leave Spain. Tens of thousands of Jews departed from Spain to other lands such as Portugal, North Africa, Italy and the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
. Later in 1492, Ferdinand had issued a letter addressed to the Jews who had left Castile and Aragon, to invite them back to Spain if and only if they were Christians.
They authorized the expedition of
Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was a navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere...
, who was given the name of Admiral of the Ocean Sea by the monarchs, which brought knowledge of the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the non-Afro-Eurasian parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and possibly Australia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia,...
to Europe. Columbus' first expedition to the supposed Indies actually landed in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. He landed on the island of Guanahani, and called it San Salvador. He continued onto Cuba, naming it Juana, and finished his journey on the island of Santo Domingo, calling it La Española. His second trip began in 1493 in which he found more Caribbean islands including Puerto Rico. His main goal was to colonize the existing discoveries with the 1500 men that he had brought the second time around. Columbus finished his last expedition in 1498 and discovered Trinidad and the coast of present day Venezuela. The colonies Columbus established and conquests in the Americas in the decades to come would lead to an influx of wealth into Spain, filling the coffers of the new state that would prove to be the hegemony of Europe for the next two centuries.
Isabella ensured long-term political stability in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
by arranging strategic marriages for each of her five children; political security was important for a country to be considered a great power. Her firstborn, a daughter named
IsabellaIsabella, Princess of Asturias was the Queen Consort of Portugal and the eldest daughter and heiress presumptive of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile...
, married
Afonso of PortugalThe Infante Afonso, Prince of Portugal , was the heir to the throne of Portugal. He was born in Lisbon, Portugal, and died in a horse riding accident on the banks of the river Tagus....
, forging important ties between these two neighbouring countries and hopefully ensuring peace and future alliance. Juana, Isabella’s second daughter, married
Philip the HandsomePhilip I , known as the Handsome or the Fair, was the son of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor...
, the son of the Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian IMaximilian I of Habsburg was King of the Romans from 1493 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death, but had ruled jointly with his father for the last ten years of his father's reign, from circa 1483...
. This ensured alliance with the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
, a powerful, far-reaching territory which assured Spain’s future political security. Isabella’s first and only son,
JuanJuan, Prince of Asturias, was the only son of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon who survived to adulthood....
, married Margaret of Austria, maintaining ties with the Habsburg dynasty, on which Spain relied heavily. Her fourth child,
MariaMaria of Aragon was a Spanish infanta, second wife of Portuguese King Manuel I and because of that queen consort of Portugal from her marriage on 30 October 1500 until her death.-Family:She was the third surviving daughter of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon...
, married
Manuel I of PortugalManuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatriz of Portugal.His mother was the granddaughter of King John I of...
, strengthening the link forged by her older sister’s marriage. Her fifth child,
CatherineCatherine of Aragon was Princess of Wales as the wife of Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England....
, firstly married to
Arthur, Prince of WalesArthur, Prince of Wales was the first son of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and therefore, heir to the throne of England. As he predeceased his father, Arthur never became king...
and after his premature death, she married
Henry VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy...
, King of England, and was mother to
Queen Mary IMary I , was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death. She was the oldest daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. The fourth crowned monarch of the Tudor dynasty, she is remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism after succeeding her short-lived...
.
Their joint motto was "
Tanto monta, monta tantoTanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernando, "They amount to the same", was the motto of a prenuptial agreement made by the Spanish Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. During their joint reign they did in fact support each other effectively in accordance with...
". The motto was created by
Antonio de NebrijaAntonio de Lebrija, also known as Antonio de Nebrija, Elio Antonio de Lebrija, Antonius Nebrissensis, and Antonio of Lebrixa, was a Spanish scholar born at Lebrija in the province of Seville....
and was either an allusion to the
Gordian KnotThe Gordian Knot is a legend associated with Alexander the Great. It is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem, solved by a bold stroke :"Turn him to any cause of policy,
...
:
Tanto monta, monta tanto, cortar como desatar ("...cutting as untying"), or an explanation of the equality of the monarchs:
Tanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernando ("..., Isabella the same as Ferdinand")
Their symbol was
el yugo y las flechas, a
yokeA yoke is a wooden beam which is used between a pair of oxen to allow them to pull a load . There are several types, used in different cultures, and for different types of oxen...
and a
fascesFasces symbolize summary power and jurisdiction, and/or "strength through unity"...
of arrows. The yoke is another allusion to the Gordian knot.
Y and
F are the initials of Ysabel (archaic spelling) and Fernando. This symbol was later used by the
fascistFascism, , comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology and a corporatist economic ideology developed in Italy. Fascists believe that nations and/or races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in...
Spanish political party
FalangeFalange Española de las J.O.N.S. is the name assigned to several political movements and parties dating from the 1930s, most particularly the original fascist movement in Spain. The word Falange means phalanx formation in Spanish...
, which claimed to represent the inherited glory and the ideals of the
Reyes Católicos.
- Country Studies
- Edwards, John. Ferdiand and Isabella: Profiles in Power.Pearson Education. New York, New York. 2005.ISBN 0-582-21816-0.
- Edwards, John. The Spain of the Catholic Monarchs. Blackwell Publishers. Massachusetts, 2000. ISBN 0-631-22143-3.
- Kamen, Henry. Spain: 1469-1714 A Society of Conflict.Longman. New York, New York. 1991. ISBN 0-582-06723-5.